Better than Binns

Section IV- The Conflict, Chapter I- the Spark

First Day of the First Month of the Year

A New Year! And what year it has been. Hogwarts is flourishing beautifully. The students are enjoying themselves here. However, there is something darker I need to write about : Salazar.

Yes, my dear friend has been acting rather strangely of late and it's worrying me. He looks very suspicious lately and I can't bring myself to ask him what is wrong. However, he came to talk to me today. Let me explain what happened because this is the dark cloud in my day.

I heard a knock on my door. "Come in!"

" May I talk to you, Godric?" I turned around and saw Salazar standing at the doorway.

"Of course, Salazar, what's on your mind?"

"I... I..." He paused for a moment. "This is hard to say, but it's been on my mind for so long and I need to get it out."

I looked at him expectantly.

He sighed, "Godric, I'm not keen on the fact that there are Muggle -borns in this school."

When he said this, I knew I should've expected it. I mean, he was always adamant about Muggle- borns being excluded from Hogwarts.

"What's your reason, Salazar? There's no reason you can give me that justifies that comment." I was getting annoyed.

"They cannot keep up with the others! Justification enough?"

"Let me think about this, Salazar. I will look up your claim." I tried to stay calm. This was the one of the few subjects we constantly bickered over.

"Good. I will see you tomorrow, Godric. I've got to prepare for my lessons." He said all of this very abruptly and left me at my desk, utterly confused.

And here I am, still unsure of what happened there. Yes, it was short and rather uneventful, but that's to the observer. To me, it's more. It seems like an animosity is developing between Salazar and me. He brought out a point that he was itching to get out, yet he left immediately after I agreed to look it up. Salazar is not like this. He normally would've sat down and given me specific reasons for why he held the opinion he did. I'm worried. I don't know why, honestly, it's just that this isn't Salazar, or at least the one I know. He left without explanation, claiming he had to do work. I don't believe him. There's something up with him that I need to find out. Enough for now! I need to make sure all my lessons are in order and that the travel arrangements for the students are set.

~ Godric Gryffindor

Second Day of the First Month of the Year

Bloody hell! Godric can be so goddamn annoying. Let me explain as calmly as I can force myself to be right now.

I went and spoke to Godric about the fact that there are Muggle- borns attending Hogwarts. I really don't think they can handle it here, or so I told Godric. I don't think he believes me. If he doesn't, he's justified. I mean, he's my friend and knows me very well. He knows when I'm lying, even when I try to cover it up. I don't believe that Muggle- borns deserve to be in this school. Godric would throw a fit if he knew. He's a Muggle- born. He is an exception to the rules of blood. Yes, that did sound corny, but it's true.

Back to the conversation. I told him that they were falling behind and he said he would check it up. If he does, I will be proved wrong. And then, they will all know. Rowena and Helga too. However, it's what I feel and no can stop me. My house will accept students with magical blood in them. Our school cannot function properly on open-mindedness alone. We need boundaries. No one listens to me, so what does it matter? One day, they will learn that what they're doing is wrong and it will be a harsh lesson. I can't write anymore! My anger will just spill out and it won't be pleasant.

~ Salazar Slytherin

"DAMN!" Ron was back in his room.

He had finished his dinner quickly, without a word to anyone. He came down to the table, piled food on his plate and began to eat.

"Ron, what's going on up in that room of yours?" Ginny asked him, jokingly.

He didn't reply to her, but finished eating. The book was getting too good to stop reading.

Now it was dark outside. Ron was shocked at the kind of person Salazar turned out to be. There was a lapse in the entries, but a lot had happened between them, he knew. Salazar was turning out to be the nasty man he was known as today.

Fifth Day of the Fourth Month of the Year

It's been four months since the New Year began. It's also been four months since the fight began.

The fight is about Muggle born students attending Hogwarts. Salazar is against it and the rest of us are for it. The students don't know about it and that is the way it should be. It's only the first year and yet we are already having this conflict. I'm worried that the school won't survive. This fight has grown over the past few months and I'm sensing something worse in the months to come. That isn't good for a new school. Worried and afraid... two words that describes me right now. I'm wondering if they will get worse. But now for school news.

And now on to lighter things. Over the course of this year, we've hired many new teachers and added classes. This is good news and welcome as well. The teachers are adapting well and all possess many talents, including magical ones. I'm quite pleased with them. They've caught on to our goal quickly and are helping us tremendously.

I know I haven't written much today, however I can't. I just can't.

~ Helga Hufflepuff

Sixth Day of the Sixth Month of the Year

It's almost the end of the school year. The amount of things that have happened since the beginning of the school is just amazing. But not all is good. I'll explain what I mean.

The school is doing extraordinarily well. We have many new teachers and new subjects. The students seem to be enjoying themselves here. I'm very happy that they like it. This is a good sign for next year. I like teaching them as well. We've added some new classes. One is Defense against the Dark Arts. What we realized was that there is such as thing as a dark side to magic.

However, in all of this, there is a dark thing hanging over our heads. An argument, almost a fight. It began as one between Godric and Salazar. Salazar was always uncomfortable with our having children born to non-magical or "Muggle" parents. I'm not sure why, to be honest. I mean, that damned man has a Muggle father! Then again, he never mentioned students with one magical parent and one non-magical one.... Who knows what that man will do next? I think he's crazy... no, really crazy. I've kept this to myself for the past few months when I first began thinking about it. It would disturb the others. I mean, someone running a school being crazy? Parents wouldn't want their students under his teaching or his care. But my reasoning for him being crazy?

He has changed so much in such a short time that it's astounding! He used to be such good friends with Godric. I do believe that's why he went to him in the first place. Instead of talking to me, Salazar went to Godric. I thought that it was because they were such good friends and that he, Salazar, could convince Godric to agree with him. And Godric would then come to me.

That did happen, but it was Helga who came to me. She came full of concern, wanting to tell me that there was an argument going on. She was very worried, it looked as if she hadn't slept in days. This proved to me that it was an important matter. And it has turned to out to be a horrible thing. It's only been a year, not even, since we began this school and if this is already happening... well, that doesn't need to be explained. I hope we can sort this out over the summer. I'd hate to lose one of my friends, but my students must come first. I need to go and think this all through. Enough for now.

~ Rowena Ravenclaw

"I knew Salazar was loony!" Ron muttered. He had just finished this chapter. He looked out his window and it was pitch black. "Damn, I'm tired...I can wait until tomorrow to finish, I guess," and with that Ron fell asleep. The next chapter awaited him, Chapter II, The Fire.